March 25, 2017

Cone got a
late start into college due to Army service during World War II. As the
starting fullback, he led Clemson in rushing with 703 yards in 1948 and
followed up with 845 yards in ’49. He was chosen by the Packers in the third
round of the 1951 NFL draft. He handled kickoffs in college and took over
placekicking duty with Green Bay. He connected on 5 of 7 field goal attempts as
a rookie in 1951 and was 29 of 35 on PATs to go along with one rushing TD to
end up with a total of50 points. As a rusher Cone gained 190 yards on 56
attempts (3.4 avg.) and he added another 315 yards on 28 pass receptions.He
remained strictly a backup fullbackand
gained 276 rushing yards in 1952 and 301 in ’53.As a kicker he was successful
on just one attempt in 1952 while booting 32 PATs and in1953 hit on 5 of 16
field goal tries and added 27 extra points. His rushing total dropped to 18
yards on 15 carries in 1954 and he made good on 9 of 16 field goals as well as
27 extra points.

1955 Season Summary

Appeared in
all 12 games

[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking

Field goals –
16 [1]

Most field
goals, game – 3 vs. LA Rams 10/16

Field goal
attempts – 24 [1, tied with Les Richter & Bert Rechichar]

Field goal
percentage – 66.7 [2]

PATs – 30 [4,
tied with Les Richter]

PAT attempts
– 30 [6, tied with Gordie Soltau]

Longest field
goal – 47 yards vs. Baltimore 10/8

Rushing

Attempts – 12

Yards – 25

Average gain
– 2.1

TDs – 0

Pass
Receiving

Receptions – 1

Yards – 7

TDs – 0

Scoring

Field Goals –
16

PATs – 30

Points – 78
[4]

Packers went 6-6
to finish third in the NFL Western Conference.

Aftermath:

Cone spent
one more year with the Packers in 1957 and connected on12 of 17 field goal
attempts and all 26 of his PATs.He also rushed for 135 yards and two
touchdowns. Cone became a high school coach before signing with the expansion
Dallas Cowboys in 1960.He kicked 6 field goals out of 13 attempts in his single
season with Dallas as well as 21 PATs and was let go the following preseason.
For his career with the Packers Cone ran for 1156 yards on 347 attempts (3.3
avg.) and caught 75 passes for another 852 yards. He made good on 53 of 89
field goal attempts and added 221 extra points which, along with 16 TDs, gave
him a total of 455 points.Cone was a
1974 inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and also was inducted
into the Clemson and South Carolina Athletic Halls of Fame.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories: